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. 2022 Nov:77:127739.
doi: 10.1016/j.ufug.2022.127739. Epub 2022 Sep 23.

Citizens' use of public urban green spaces at the time of the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy

De Meo Isabella  1 , Becagli Claudia  1 , Cantiani Maria Giulia  2 , Casagli Alessandro  1 , Paletto Alessandro  3
Affiliations

Citizens' use of public urban green spaces at the time of the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy

De Meo Isabella et al. Urban For Urban Green. 2022 Nov.

Abstract

Since early 2020, Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has spread rapidly, quickly becoming a global pandemic. To counter the COVID-19 outbreak, national governments have issued different measures and restrictions, forcing citizens to adapt to a whole new lifestyle. These restrictions have impacted on the use of green spaces by citizens owing to many factors: more available free time, increased flexibility in the work environment, and a need to relax in Nature to relieve anxiety and stress. Urban green spaces provide many benefits for the physical and psychological well-being of citizens (e.g., habitat conservation, pollution control, recreational and leisure opportunities). To understand if citizens' habits have changed due to the COVID-19 restrictions, this study provides insights from a web-based survey monitoring the use of such spaces before and during the COVID-19 lockdowns in Italy. A web-based questionnaire was conducted via "Facebook Messenger" and "WhatsApp" at the end of the second wave of COVID-19 (May-June 2021). Data collection having been concluded, 1075 completed questionnaires were collected and processed. The results show that while many reduced their weekly frequentation of green areas (-16.5%), the number of people frequenting green areas near their home every day increased (+7.7%). Two main groups of people were identified: the first, those who intensified their visits to green areas being those who desired to spend time in contact with Nature; the second, those who were reluctant to visit green areas for fear of being infected. The results also show most of the respondents felt urban green areas were either very important (82.1%) or important (14.4%). Overall, the results reveal that COVID-19 induced a positive perception of the benefits provided by urban green areas, with a consequent greater use of them, which seems destined to last even once the public health emergency has passed.

Keywords: COVID-19 restrictions; Green infrastructures; Italy; Lockdown; Nature-based recreation; Urbanisation; Web-based survey.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Comparison between the distribution of the sample by age and Italian population (ISTAT, 2021).
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Comparison between the distribution of the sample by level of education and Italian population (ISTAT, 2021).
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Changes in the use of UGSs by citizens during the COVID-19 pandemic for all respondents (n = 1075).
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Changes in the type of UGSs frequented during the COVID-19 pandemic in accordance with the respondents’ answers.
Fig. 5
Fig. 5
Changes in the activities carried out in UGSs during the COVID-19 pandemic in accordance with the respondents’ answers.
Fig. 6
Fig. 6
Perceived changes and influence of restrictive measures on the use of UGSs for all respondents (n = 1075).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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